“But my ambition was to play for Middlesbrough and to play in the Premier League.

“I wanted to play for a club that is as ambitious as me and for me Middlesbrough is that club.”

Reiziger arrived on Teesside with real pedigree.

The 31-year-old had been Holland’s first choice right-back at Euro 2004 and a regular in Barcelona’s backline.

But it took Steve McClaren less than an hour to convince Reiziger to swap the Nou Camp for the Riverside when the pair met in Amsterdam to discuss a deal.

“I am very hungry to win trophies and I have a great hope for this team,” he said.

“I think we have a very good team that can do positive things in the league and this club will get bigger.”

One man who was delighted to see Reiziger complete the switch was Boro’s defensive coach Steve Harrison.

For Harrison, the experienced Dutchman was the final piece in his defensive jigsaw.

“Signing Michael certainly makes our defence look very strong now and we have three established internationals in the back four,” he said.

“A player like Michael can also only help the likes of Chris Riggott and Andrew Davies and, with Andrew Taylor coming through, they can learn and take a lot from him.”

It appeared to be a win-win situation for player and club.

Yet Reiziger’s Boro career never really took off. He suffered an unfortunate run of injuries and, when he did manage to get on the pitch niggle-free, looked a shadow of the player who’d made 72 appearances for his national side.

Just a year after arriving for Barcelona, Reiziger headed for home, signing for PSV Eindhoven where he brought the curtain down on his illustrious career.